A Double Lung Transplant, Then a 10K

Jul 20, 2012

By Peter Gambaccini

Photo courtesy of NYRR News Service

Jerry Cahill has lived most of his life with cystic fibrosis, a genetic disease causing mucus to build up in the body's organs, most notably in the lungs. The median life span of people with the disease is 37 years. Cahill is 56. Three months age, on April 18, he underwent a double lung transplant. And on Saturday morning, he's participating in

Boomer’s Cystic Fibrosis Run to Breathe, a 10K in New York's Central Park.“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t thank and appreciate the donor," says Cahill. He's a volunteer manager of the Boomer Esiason Foundation’s scholarship and transplant grant programs and founded the Team Boomer—Fighting Cystic Fibrosis athletic program, which encourages people with the disease to exercise. The Boomer Esiason Foundation (BEF) was created by the NFL MVP quarterback in 1993 when his two-year-old son, Gunnar, was diagnosed with the disease.Cahill was diagnosed with CF at age 11, and his parents were told he'd be lucky to reach age 18. But exercise helped. He ran the New York City Marathon in 1991 and 1993, and he was a top masters pole vaulter. But in time, his lung function deteriorated drastically, to 23 percent. Now it's back up to 91. Cahill's surgeon, Dr. Joshua Sonett, thinks Cahill's exercise regimen is a key. "I really believe he is running [already] and recovering so quickly because of his work rather than our work," says the doctor. More

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